1. The Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to wheel blocking devices, and more particularly, but not necessarily entirely, to wheel chock systems that can clamp onto one or more wheels to prevent the wheels from rolling.
2. Description of Related Art
It is common practice to provide wheel chocks or blocks for placement against one or more wheels of a wheeled vehicle while the vehicle is parked to prevent the wheels from rolling. Chocks may be particularly useful for trailers or other vehicles that are commonly provided without parking brakes. The chocks are often wedge shaped or curved to more closely correspond to the contour of the wheels, though the chocks may have various different configurations.
Wheel chocks often require a person installing the chocks to bend down to ground level to position the chocks against the wheels. Also, the chocks are often manually forced against the wheels and sometimes leave a gap between the wheels and the chocks. Such gaps may allow the wheels to start rolling. Once the vehicle starts rolling and gains momentum due to the weight of the vehicle, the resulting forces applied to the chocks may cause the chocks to fail and allow the vehicle to continue to move. Accordingly, even a small gap between the chocks and the wheel may cause the chocks to fail, particularly on sloped or gravel surfaces.
Also, releasing the chocks again often requires a person to bend down to ground level to pull the chocks out from under the wheels. If the wheels have rolled against the chocks or if the chocks have been firmly pressed against the wheels, it may sometimes be difficult to release the chocks from under the wheels.
Other known embodiments of chocks require rotating screw devices or turnbuckles to apply or release pressure on the chocks to install or remove the chocks. Many rotations of the screw or turnbuckle mechanisms may be required to apply pressure to the wheels during installation, and an equal number of rotations of the mechanisms may be required to remove the chocks. Such chock installation mechanisms may thus require excessive time and energy to install and remove the chocks from vehicle wheels.
The prior art is thus characterized by several disadvantages that are addressed by the present disclosure. The present disclosure minimizes, and in some aspects eliminates, the above-mentioned failures, and other problems, by utilizing the methods and structural features described herein.
The features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.